FIIT manual
Holding a guard post: the 10 FIIT rules
What an agent must check when taking over, during the shift and at handover. The first FIIT manual, rewritten for the site.
A guard post is not a chair in front of a door. It is the first link in a site's security: if the agent is late, distracted or uninformed, the whole set-up behind them loses its value. Here are the ten rules every FIIT agent learns at the Academy and applies on every site.
Before taking over
1. Arrive fifteen minutes early
Handover starts before the official time. An agent who arrives exactly on time has no time to listen to their colleague's briefing, check the equipment and read the logbook. At FIIT, fifteen minutes early is the norm, not the exception.
2. Report in full uniform
Clean uniform, closed shoes, visible badge. Uniform is not vanity: it tells the visitor they are dealing with a professional, and it deters before the agent has said a word.
3. Read the logbook before signing
The previous shift's logbook holds the incidents, the expected visitors, the temporary orders. An agent who takes over without reading it does not know what is coming.
During the shift
4. Check every access, without exception
The director, the usual delivery driver, the caretaker's friend: everyone goes through the same procedure. Today's exceptions are tomorrow's breaches. If standing orders include an access list, the agent checks it every time.
5. Stay visible and mobile
An agent sitting behind glass sees nothing and is seen by no one. Standing, moving regularly around the post, changing position: presence is the first deterrent.
6. Never leave the post without a replacement
Break, phone call, toilet: nothing justifies an empty post. The agent informs the site manager and waits to be relieved, even for five minutes.
7. Keep the logbook in real time
Every event is written down as it happens: time, nature, people involved, action taken. A logbook written at the end of the shift is an invented logbook.
8. Personal phone away
The personal phone stays in the pocket or locker. An agent looking at a screen is not looking at the gate. The post's communication equipment is for operational exchanges.
In case of an incident
9. Observe, alert, protect, in that order
Faced with an incident, the agent does not play hero. They observe and memorise useful details, alert their manager and, if necessary, the relevant services, then protect people and the site within the limits of their means and the law.
10. Always report
After any incident, however minor, the agent writes a factual report: what they saw, what they did, whom they informed. The report protects the agent as much as the client.
These ten rules are taught and assessed in FIIT Academy's Private security agent track. They fit on one page, but they make the difference between a post that is held and a post that is merely occupied.
